Delhi schoolgirl in coma dies, family blames teacher

New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) A 15-year-old girl who slipped into coma on Jan 7 after being allegedly hit by a male teacher for refusing his private tuition died here Thursday. Her father has claimed that the beating caused her death. But sources at the Maharaja Agrasen Hospital in Punjabi Bagh where Rinki Kaushik died claimed that the death was caused by respiratory disorder.

According to her father Naresh Kaushik, the Class 10 student of the privately run Dinkar National Model School in east Delhi went into coma because her teacher Dhirendra Kumar Dinkar assaulted her with a stick Nov 10 last year.

Father Kaushik explained the long gap between the alleged beating and coma by saying that his daughter had developed a nerve disorder after a motorcycle accident four years ago, and the fresh assault aggravated the problem and led to the coma.

Her body has been sent to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

The Delhi government has announced Rs.100,000 as compensation to the girl’s family. The authorities have promised a separate investigation.

Naresh said he complained to the police about the assault Nov 15 - five days after the alleged beating.

“First the police did not listen to us,” he said Thursday. “Later they asked us to write a complaint on plain paper, but no case was registered. When I tried to reason with the principal, who is also the father of the accused teacher, he refused to take up the matter calling it a trivial issue.”

After the girl slipped into coma on Jan 7, she was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital for blood clots in the brain. The clots were later removed but her condition remained critical.

Naresh said the Ashok Nagar police station registered a case Feb 12 under sections 325 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

He alleged that the family was being threatened to withdraw the case.

“The police do not help the middle class. They still haven’t arrested the man. He is roaming free,” Naresh said.

“We want justice for our daughter. The accused should be arrested immediately for murder.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Delhi) Ajay Chaudhry told IANS that the teacher is absconding since the news of the girl’s death and police teams have fanned out to nab him.

“We cannot say what resulted in Rinki’s death. We are awaiting the autopsy report,” Chaudhry said.

Police sources hinted that a new IPC section 304-A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) could be added to the first information report against Dinkar.

When asked why the teacher was not arrested earlier, Chaudhry said he had been questioned at length last month.

“We could not arrest him due to there being no eyewitness account. Rinki’s classmates were also ignorant about the incident. We wanted to record her statement, but could not due to her poor health,” the official said, adding that the girl’s body did not bear any external injury.

The Delhi government swung into action only after the media highlighted the plight of the victim and her parents. Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely visited the girl at the hospital last month and moved against the school administration for resorting to corporal punishment. The education department de-recognised the school March 5.